Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1992738 in Books
• Published on: 1982-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 209 pages

Customer Reviews

Jacques de Molay - thou art avenged!
The history of the world is the history of secret societies.

This book is an historical essay on the Order of the Knights Templar, their trial and execution, and the subsequent myth that developed about them. The Knights Templar were a religious militant order which was founded during the middle ages to contribute to the Crusades. They took vows of "poverty, chastity, and obedience", and lived as monk-soldiers. However, these warrior-monks amassed a great deal of wealth, which likely prompted the jealousy of King Philip the Fair. They were charged with heresy and various other crimes (including bizarre sexual practices and the worship of an idol, Baphomet), and were subsequently tried and murdered. Whether or not the Templars were indeed the heretics they were presented to be, or whether they were framed by King Philip, is a question that history has come to inquire. Because of the bizarreness of the accusations (and later the confessions) made against (by) the Templars, their cause has been taken up by many writers of myth and history since their trial. Further, many secret societies and masonic organizations claim them as their antecedants. This book deals with the history of the Templars and this myth which they have given rise to.

The book is an excellent introduction to the Templars and their myth. It has everything from the death cries of Jacques de Molay, the Templar Grand Master at the time of their execution, to the bizarre theorizings of individuals ranging from the infamous Bavarian Illuminati (founded by Adam Weishaupt) to Joseph Hammer (who wrote _The Mystery of Baphomet Revealed_) to Aleister Crowley and his role in the O.T.O. and the Order of the Golden Dawn. One cannot find a better short book which discusses all the bizarre and hysterical beliefs that have arisen out of the Templar myth. But, not only this! The book also deals with the genuine history of these knights, who were taken to be heretical magicians by their inquisitors. It is excellent in both respects!

Baphomet stole my teddybear!
This author is taking the more skeptical, professional side to Templar history...as opposed to the lunatic fringe of Templar historians that argue their esoteric secrets of heresy and arcane ancient secrets. This book just looks at them rationally and what it was like to be a heretic in the Middle ages, and from there how the many myths were born of Templarism and its metamorphosis into Freemasonry. Its not giving any credence to secret information taken from Jesus' day or twisted styles of Baphomet worship, but discusses where such notions originated. It gives a decent clear synopsis of the history of the Templar knights. Standard historical work that also sets out confuting the repeated ideas of conspiracy and what not.. if you are really interested though, it will take further research than this book. He concludes that their most striking characteristic was their ordinariness. Also, 'that their end arose not from the operation of demonic forces but as a result of their own mediocrity and lack of nerve.'